The Syria Monitor

Kilo and Issa Sentenced to Three Years

Dissidents Michel Kilo and Mahmoud Issa were sentenced today to three years in prison each for "weakening national sentiment, spreading false news, and inciting sectarian strife." (Arabic. Elaph, 5/13/07).

Two other dissidents, Suleiman Shammar and Khalil Hussein, who have been in hiding for months, were sentenced in absentia to ten years each; Five for weakening national sentiment, and five for inciting a foreign state to attack Syria.

The four dissidents, are signatories to the Beirut-Damascus Declaration, a joint document by hundreds of Lebanese and Syrian intellectuals calling for the rectification of bilateral relations through the respect of Lebanese sovereignty and independence, delineation of borders, exchange of embassies, and abiding by UN resolutions.

Kilo and Issa were arrested in May 2006 along with a number of other signatories to the declaration some of whom have since been released. Another signatory, Anwar Bunni, was sentenced on April 24 to five years. And with these verdicts, the Beirut-Damascus Declaration file was closed.

The National Organization for Human Rights in Syria (NOHR-S) condemned the sentence as politically motivated, since the charges have no legal standing. Dissidents in Syria were fearful that after the rough sentences against Bunni and Kamal Labwani, Kilo would also get a harsh sentence. (Arabic. Elaph, 5/11/07). Labwani was sentenced to twelve years on Thursday. The White House has condemned both sentences.

Six detained leading opposition figures warned earlier this month that the "repressive climate" in the country was worsening and called for the release of all political prisoners. (AFP, 5/1/07). The statement was published in the Lebanese daily An-Nahar on May 1 and signed by Kilo, Issa, Bunni, Labwani, Faeq al-Mir, and Aref Dalilah, who has been detained since 2001 and is serving a ten year term.

The six opposition figures called for "solidarity" with rights activists jailed in Syria, which has been under a state of emergency ever since the Baath party seized power in 1963.

"The Syrian people are paying a heavy price in order to obtain their rights, and we hope that we are the last payment of this expensive price in order for the Syrians to regain their freedoms," they said.

Anwar Bunni Sentenced to Five Years

Human rights lawyer and activist Anwar Bunni was sentenced to five years in jail and ordered to pay a $2,000 fine for "weakening the morale of the nation." (Arabic. AKI, 4/24/07). The fine is to be paid to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, which had demanded compensation for all the sums received by Bunni from the EU Commission, as director of the (partially EU-funded) center for human rights which he opened in Syria and which the Syrian authorities shut down in March 2006, a week after its opening. (Arabic. Elaph, 4/24/07).

Bunni was arrested in May 2006 along with ten others, including Michel Kilo, after signing the "Beirut-Damascus Declaration." The declaration, signed by around 300 Syrian and Lebanese activists, called on Syria to correct its relations with Lebanon and comply with UN resolutions by demarcating the border, setting up an embassy in Beirut and recognizing Lebanon's sovereignty and independence.

Bunni's defense called the sentence "a political decision" that has nothing to do with the law and should be annulled.

During the hearing, Bunni stressed that his trial was not because of any crime, but in order to silence him for his exposing of human rights violations, which is something he will never give up. He added that he considered the charge leveled against him a source of pride, and that he considered his trial a political charade subject to the directives of the powers that concocted it. Amnesty International held the same view in a statement released yesterday prior to the sentencing.

During his detention, Bunni was repeatedly abused as he was placed in the criminal ward and assaulted by common criminals, in the presence of the prison guards and with the knowledge of the prison administration, and at times even beaten by the prison guards. He detailed the conditions of political prisoners in a recent letter from jail to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. (English. ME Transparent, 3/10/07).